Across the entire Monster Hunter series, Elder Dragons have always been the toughest challenge, and that tradition is continued in Monster Hunter Stories 3. Not only are they much stronger than the average monster, they come with unique mechanics.
Yet Malzeno is even further unique than that. They are fought as a boss when you first encounter them, but become a regular roaming monster after that. So you only need to really beat them once to take them down much more easily every other time.
The Best Monsties To Use Against Malzeno
Malzeno’s biggest strength is Dragon, the element they attack you with. Like most Elder Dragons, however, Dragon is also their biggest weakness, with both Fire and Ice being lesser weaknesses.
In that regard, Ratha can hold their own fairly well, though other monsters you could potentially have at this point, such as Stygian Zinogre, come with very powerful Dragon attacks and have a massive Dragon element resistance, too.
During the Blood Rite State, Malzeno also becomes very weak to Normal attacks. If you managed to find a Magnamalo egg already, then they can be a very useful Monstie to bring to this fight.
Malzeno is able to heal themselves over the fight, so you’ll want to avoid using any attacks that they are strong against to prevent the fighting dragging on too long. Having a high Speed Monstie can help avoid any HP draining attacks Malzeno uses, preventing them from healing as effectively.
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The Best Equipment To Use Against Malzeno
When it comes to your own gear, Dragon is the way to go in all regards. A nice set of armor that resists Dragon, such as the Death Garon set, is a great choice. However, since you encounter Malzeno quite close to where Ebony Odogaron is, you may not have the materials for this set. The Shrouded Nerscylla set makes a good substitute.
When it comes to offense, focus on all Dragon element for your three weapons too, only using Fire or Ice when you don’t have a Dragon weapon available. Deviljho will likely be your most available at the moment, though Glavenus and Legiana weapons can work well in place of Dragon.
Any Decorations that fit your playstyle will work, though having Self-Heal or Crit-Heal can be useful to keep up with Malzeno draining your HP. Just make sure you bring along a weapon of each major damage type so you can target all of Malzeno’s weakpoints.
The Best Companion To Use Against Malzeno
When it comes to companions, the vast majority can work well here, though you may want to avoid Eleanor, as she has the highest weakness to the Dragon element by far.
Gaul and Kora are the best to use here though, as both they and their Monsties use elements that Malzeno is weak to, Ice and Fire respectively, with Kora also having a slight resistance to the Dragon element.
Gaul can be useful as the many items he has can keep you buffed and healed, while Kora has the means of pulling aggro away from you entirely, so choose whichever of those two that you feel fits you best in this scenario.
How To Beat Malzeno
Battling Malzeno is like most other Elder Dragons, except that there is no repelling them. They have to be defeated outright. That aside though, they act the same as all other Elder Dragons. That means you can’t use traps, and they become Exposed instead of Fatigued.
Malzeno uses a good mix of Dragon attacks, both single and multi-target attacks, so it’s worth keeping your Defenses high no matter what. They’re also very fast, so trying to boost your own Speed to outpace them isn’t a bad idea, though far from necessary.
Like most monsters, Malzeno also cycles through different states, and their attack-type changes with it. Here are all of them:
- Normal – Speed
- Blood Rite Active – Technical
- Exposed – Speed
During the Blood Rite State, a few changes occur. One is that Malzeno gains three extra parts covered in the Qurio, and their resistances change. They retain the Dragon weakness, though lose the Fire and Ice weaknesses, instead becoming incredibly weak to Normal-element attacks.
While in the Blood Rite State, Malzeno will start actively draining your HP with their attacks, while also boosting their attack power. However, if you manage to destroy all of the Qurio, you will also instantly stagger them, so it’s worth focusing your attacks here.
Beyond this, there aren’t any other secrets to the fight. Though they hold the mechanics of an Elder Dragon, they’re not the biggest challenge, and frankly feel even stronger as a Monstie.
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